US DM buy miles promotion is back...

Get a 100% bonus on your miles†
When you buy miles between February 16 and March 31, 2011, you'll automatically get a 75% bonus on your miles. Just like that.

Still want more? Use the new Dividend Miles Toolbarbefore March 31, 2011, and we'll give you an additional 25% bonus. Wow. Double miles are even better.
†25% additional bonus offer: Dividend Miles members based in the 50 United States and Puerto Rico can earn an additional 25% bonus on their "buy miles" purchase by downloading, installing and completing at least three valid searches using the Dividend Miles Toolbar during the above dates. To qualify, a member's Dividend Miles account must have been registered with a United States or Puerto Rico address on 2/1/2011. Members who did not have a United States or Puerto Rico address on file as of 2/1/2011 are not eligible to receive the 25% additional bonus regardless of address updates. 25% additional bonus miles will post 5-10 days after eligible members have completed a qualifying "buy miles" transaction and valid

Thanks for this! On top of the recent offer targeted at only folks that had bought miles before, they're clearly playing around will all kinds of things to see who will take them up on the offer and what they can make members to do in order to get the offer.

Note that (1) the first 75% bonus posts right away, the 25% bonus does not, and (2) only the first 50k purchased gets the bonuses.

Sorry, I haven't seen a link for this yet, but are you saying that as long as you already have the DM toolbar downloaded and installed and are using it, that you'll get the 25% bonus when you purchase miles? Or do you need to purchase miles actually using the toolbar to get the bonus?

Every time US does this I feel like I want to know the details of their financial health. $1375 is a lot of money if you don't have a specific trip in mind.

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But it can be not a lot of money if you do have a specific trip in mind...to pay $1238 for 90K miles is a pretty cheap business class ticket from the US to North Asia, for example. It's almost like US Airways is the Star Alliance consolidator...

Also, here's the link, since I don't see it on the thread yet: Buy Miles

Every time US does this I feel like I want to know the details of their financial health. $1375 is a lot of money if you don't have a specific trip in mind.

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I don't think selling miles indicates weak financial health. I do think they are trying to come up with liquid cash for some purpose but I don't think the kind of money they're getting from these sales would be enough to stave off a financial disaster. I also think we might see other airlines adopting the same aggressive mileage sales sooner or later; I've seen some nice deals on other carriers in conjunction with Amex MR points transfers but nothing as generous as the US sales. The airlines in general are looking for more ways to sell more things to existing customers and if the US customer base has an appetite for cheap miles, then US will keep selling them as long as there's a profit to be had.

Keep in mind that most people "in the real world" are going to be redeeming on US metal for trips to Hawaii and such, having not really learned the value of partner redemptions. Unless you've found this website or "the other one", you'd have to spend a lot of time on your own even understanding why you'd want to redeem on partner carriers, let alone the most valuable ways to do it. The folks that haunt these forums are the ones that get subsidized by everyone else's mileage redemptions.

last year there was some kind of promo being either buy, share or gift around 10/12 months. which is why I am surprised that US is at it again so soon since apparently other *A partners have been complaining...

last year there was some kind of promo being either buy, share or gift around 10/12 months. which is why I am surprised that US is at it again so soon since apparently other *A partners have been complaining...

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I'm curious as to which *A partners have been complaining, and in which venue? I'd love to see some company statement but haven't as of yet. Is there a link you can share? I've often wondered what the partners' reaction is, or even if they notice at all--- for all we know, they're making enough off of whatever US pays them for the flights that it's a non-issue-- but I've never seen anything substantial, just third- and fourth-hand reports.

So has anyone purchases miles yet or planning to do so? I don't have any specific need for extra miles in the forseeable future, and I have a decent amount banked just from my regular flying, but I may spend $27 and get 1000 (so 2000) just for kicks.

I'm not sure I'll buy any but I'm fairly convinced I'll top off my wife's account. She has a bit under 40K now. I've been hoping for a share promo but buying 40-45K plus bonus will get her account up to the level for F just about everywhere we want to go, or NZ C back down to AKL or Australia.

My boyfriend is going to buy some, maybe this week, maybe towards the end. Our combined balances are not keeping up with all the gifts we've been giving out and the trips we've booked for ourselves. We'd promised his best friend a gift of a ticket to come visit us but while he was waiting for his passport, I used the designated miles to book boyfriend and me YVR-SYD-AKL. Whoops.

My minor concern is that it says install the toolbar. Since many of us did that months ago, do we simply have to perform 3 searches? And do the searches have to occur AFTER purchasing the miles or can I search now and then buy miles later?

Still a pretty good deal IMO, especially if you're not already holding a ton of these miles. They're pretty easy to use... I just think people (including myself) got pretty spoiled and full of US miles from the TIB promo 14 months ago.

The US promos are great, but they are making it more difficult to find those good premium *A seats. I'd like to be able to get some nice F seats booked to Asia before the next wave of miles comes flooding in to everyone's accounts. I better get moving

There has never been a 25% additional bonus for preferred when buying miles. That promotion has only applied to gifting and sharing when the person sending the gift or sharing is preferred. A preferred could gift someone else 112.5K but could only ever buy themselves 100K.

I do hope this won't be a repeat of last year where a bunch of accounts got frozen, be it due to fraudulent use or other issues, that has left me very hesitant of buying mileage promo's on US... Then again, I still have some 200k DM left, and top it off with hotel stays and car rentals now and then...

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